The Friend Zone
by Whatever-the-weather
Summary: HIATUS: The classic story, best friends with the potential to be something more. Can Oliver and Chloe finally admit to being something more or will they forever be in each other's friend zone? Chollie and Clois with other couples and the JL.
1. Two Years Today

**THE FRIEND ZONE **

**Chapter One **

Chloe opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. She was in Oliver's apartment, lying on his couch, but why was the couch breathing? She slowly moved her head before realising she was not alone. Oliver had his arms wrapped tightly around her while her head was nestled comfortably into his chest. They both must have fallen asleep during their movie night. She hesitated wondering whether to wake him, but decided against it and managed to squirm out of his arms for her  
>morning coffee fix.<p>

"Hey Sidekick," Oliver said as he walked up to her in the kitchen.

"Hey yourself, sorry about last night I must have fallen asleep," Chloe said.

"No worries, anyway you better get going, or your boss will be angry if you're late," Oliver joked, though with a serious expression on his face.

"Well he's often late himself, so he would be a bit of a hypocrite if he was," Chloe said laughing. Oliver smiled at her; she was beautiful when she laughed.

"I need to go home to change," Chloe said signalling to the clothes she was currently wearing.

They were crumpled and could be clearly seen as the ones she had worn the day before. The last thing she wanted to do was the walk of shame to watchtower, especially when she had nothing to be ashamed of.

"Don't you remember that after the last time you slept over you decided to keep some spare clothes in the chest of drawers for emergencies?" Oliver said. Chloe nodded.

"I'll just go and get changed then," Chloe murmured, gesturing upstairs.

"Me too," Oliver said walking in the opposite direction.

Chloe wandered upstairs to the chest of draws; that now belonged to her. She slid the draw open, gathered what she needed and went into the bathroom and began to get changed.

She and Oliver had been spending a lot more time together, ever since Lois and Clark had gotten engaged. Oliver was quickly becoming one of her best friends; she found it nice to have someone to talk to who wasn't in a committed relationship. Lately it seemed that everyone had paired off. The Justice league had expanded and had grown in many of the major cities nearby, but the core (Chloe, Oliver, Clark, Bart, Victor, AC and Lois) were still based in Metropolis. So with everyone paired off Chloe and Oliver had decided to stick together.

"You ready to go," Oliver called, his voice echoing the halls.

"Yep," Chloe shouted back, and proceeded to walk down the stairs. The Clock-Tower wasn't far from Watchtower so the two decided to walk. Chloe glanced into a passing shop window as they walked in a comfortable silence; seeing camera's lined up.

It suddenly hit her like a ton of bricks, Jimmy had been murdered two years ago today and she had forgotten. Was she that much of a terrible person that she had not remembered the anniversary of her husband's death?

Oliver glanced at Chloe as she had stopped walking and had looked like she had seen a ghost. "Sidekick," Oliver said. She didn't answer. "Chloe," He repeated his voice revealing the panic he felt.

"Oh sorry I just spaced out, I'm fine," Chloe answered.

"Are you sure?" Oliver asked, not quite sure she was telling the truth.

"Of course," Chloe said trying to reassure him, the last thing she wanted was for him to worry then she would have to explain about how it was two years ago today and that would be embarrassing. Not only would she explain that, she would have to explain how she had forgotten, what would Oliver think on her then? A widow that had forgot the anniversary on her husband's death.

She carried on walking; pretending that nothing had happened, and silently prayed he would drop it. Fortunately for her God seemed to answer her prayers and not another word was spoken.

As they both walked into Watchtower they were greeted by Christine, Victor's wife. "Chloe, Oliver, how are you?" Christine had been his long-term girlfriend and he had finally proposed to her a year ago and had been married for about two months. Chloe nodded, a small smile gracing her lips at Christine, but it didn't reach her eyes.

"Fine thank you and yourself?" Oliver asked politely. He liked Christine; she respected what Victor did and she constantly strived to show that, which showed him that she was perfect for Victor.

"Good thank you," Christine replied, the conversation carried on but Chloe zoned out.

"I'm going to get some air," Chloe said trailing off and pointing to the computer.

Victor walked over to Oliver.

"Is she ok?" Victor whispered to Oliver.

"I'm not sure, she was fine this morning then all of a sudden she went silent on me," Oliver said.

"Did something happen?" Christine asked. The three of them had sat down at the table and continued to talk.

"This is very unlike her," Christine said, Chloe was always nice to her and was thrilled to have another girl around that wasn't her cousin. As much as she loved Lois she could be a lot to handle, so herself and Chloe had got on like house on fire.

"Well she did stay the night," Oliver said.

"You finally did it," Christine said excitedly, she had been waiting for Oliver and Chloe to get together; so had most of the team.

"Damn it that means I owe Lois $50," Victor said.

"What no! We'll get to the betting later," Oliver said glaring at Victor, "we just had a movie night and we both fell asleep, it's happened before," Oliver said.

"Maybe she freaked out," Victor said.

"I think you should talk to her," Christine said.

"Yeah," Oliver said turning around and headed for the door.

Unfortunately he didn't get the chance and although they spoke to each over the comm.'s as Watchtower and Green Arrow, it was hardly the time to ask what was the matter. Himself, AC, Bart, Victor and Clark were on a mission but something was clearly the matter as she didn't respond to any of the team's jokes. Instead she just spoke the directions and answered the questions with either a 'yes' or a 'no' where possible.

* * *

><p>After the others had gone home and it was only Oliver and Chloe in watchtower, she had been working non- stop since she had re-appeared.<p>

"Chloe you look tired, you should get some rest," Oliver said. Chloe finally broke, she had held in all day but she couldn't anymore. She fell into a sitting position on the stairs. Seeing that she was upset Oliver rushed over and put his arm around her.

After five minutes Chloe mumbled, "Jimmy died, a year ago today."

"Oh Chloe, I'm sorry," Oliver said, not knowing what to say.

"And I forgot, I forgot the anniversary of my husband's death. He was murdered because of me and I forgot," Chloe said, her tears subsiding enough for her to speak.

"Chloe it wasn't your fault, you know that right?" Oliver said.

"But it was, if I had just been honest with everyone from the beginning this would never have happened," Chloe said.

"You can't blame yourself," Oliver said, he didn't know what to say, crying girls, even if the girl was Chloe, really weren't his thing.

"I forgot. How could I forget?" Chloe said gesturing her arms around.

"Chloe you've had a difficult year," Oliver said, rubbing her back.

"That's not a reason," Chloe said, breaking down into a fresh batch of tears. Ollie looked at her, before taking her softly and pulling her into his arms. They didn't say anything more and Chloe soon fell asleep.

Oliver took her in his arms and took her home.

* * *

><p>"I'm sorry about yesterday; I don't know what happened, it was just bubbling at the surface you know. It must have just all got on top of me, anyway sorry for crying on you, "Chloe mumbled. Oliver just nodded.<p>

"Of course, I'm glad you've let it out," Oliver said, noticing how Chloe wouldn't even look him in the eye.

"I actually feel a lot better now and thanks for looking after me," Chloe said, looking glancing at the ground and shuffling her feet.

"No problem," Oliver said trying to catch her eye but she looked uncomfortable.

"Anyway Lois invited me to dinner with her and Clark and told me to invite you along," Chloe said, changing the subject. She felt almost embarrassed about what happened yesterday, sure she had a reason for crying but the fact that she fell asleep and Oliver had to take her home was embarrassing. She needed to learn to look after herself, Oliver shouldn't have to worry about her; he had enough on his mind without having to worry about her as well.

"When?" Oliver asked.

"Tonight if you can make it, you're not patrol," Chloe said. She realised it seemed like she was forcing him to come so she quickly added, "but if you have plans that's ok."

"No I can make it," Oliver said. Why did Chloe seem worried, they met up all the time, it was practically a daily thing.

"I'll meet you after work," Chloe said and Oliver nodded. Things seemed to be awkward now, after Chloe had broken down yesterday. Oliver wasn't sure why she acting odd, yes she had cried and he had taken her home but nothing had happened. She slept in her bed and then he went home thinking it would make her feel awkward if he stayed.

The two worked mostly in silence only talking about work. They were currently researching the location of Lex's latest lab and neither were having much luck. They were both getting more and more frustrated at finding nothing.

Eventually Oliver decided that it was time to call it a day much to Chloe's protests, besides they had to meet Lois and Clark for dinner. Chloe knew that she needed to stop being awkward about Oliver, she had done nothing wrong, her friend had comforted her. Yes she was a bit embarrassed, but Oliver was her best friend, so decided to forget about yesterday, she was being stupid anyway. So what if she had cried? She had a reason, and Oliver didn't seem to feel uncomfortable about it so neither would she.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Hey so this is my first Smallville fanfiction, so feedback would be appreciated, I am currently looking for a Beta, so if anyone would volunteer that be great, thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed it. **


	2. Getting Drunk

**THE FRIEND ZONE **

**Chapter Two**

Chloe and Oliver went to a little diner. They had become fond of it over the years and the owners were very fond of the foursome. They met with Lois and Clark who were already there waiting for Chloe and Oliver.

"Hey," Chloe greeted them.

"Hey, where have you been? I feel like I haven't seen you in ages Chloe, we need some cousin bonding time," Lois said, getting up to hug Chloe, while Oliver and Clark quickly became engrossed in conversation.

"How about this weekend?" Chloe asked. She too felt like she hadn't seen Lois in ages, what with the justice league being busy as usual and Lois's engagement. It did however help that Lois finally knew Clark's secret as well as the rest of the identities of the justice league which meant that Chloe no longer had to keep her job and often her whereabouts a secret. Lois often pitched in and helped Chloe as Watchtower, which she was surprisingly good at and overall it was a great help.

"Oh Chloe I forgot to tell you, me and Clark are going away for an impromptu weekend break, a post engagement celebration just outside town. Sorry to leave you on your own."

"Hey I've got Ollie and the rest of the justice league, it's only for a weekend I think I can survive," Chloe said. Oliver and Clark joined in the conversation.

"Don't worry I'll tell you all the details," Lois said, Chloe nodded smirking at her cousins antics. Oliver burst out laughing at the deer caught in headlines look on Clark's face.

"I don't know what you're laughing at Ollie, she knows everything about our past relationship and I mean _everything_," Lois said smirking. Oliver's smile was soon wiped off his face. Chloe and Lois soon burst out laughing at two men.

"So what do you say Ollie, my house for a movie night on Saturday," Chloe said.

"Sorry I can't I've got to go to a charity event that I've sponsored, you can come with me though," Oliver said, pulling his puppy dog face, as if it would work on her. It may work on an endless line of women, but it would not work on her, not a chance Chloe thought.

"Ollie you know I hate those stuffy events," Chloe said and she really did, everyone was so judgmental. She felt like she to be on her best behavior, like a child going round to their parent's friend's house who they barely knew.

"It's for charity," Oliver tried to reason.

"Oliver," Chloe whined, she knew was going to cave any minute as much as she didn't want to. Lately she just hadn't been able to say no to the guy.

"Please Chloe I need a date," Oliver said.

"You have supermodels queuing for a date, can't you take one of them," Chloe said.

"Come on Chloe you know that they wouldn't be nearly as good company as you," Oliver said, clearly trying to butter her up.

"But you would get to go home and sleep with them," Chloe said smiling.

"_Chloe_" Oliver whined.

"_Oliver," _Chloe whined mimicking his voice.

"Please?" Oliver asked.

"Fine, but expect lots of snarky comments," Chloe caved.

"I wouldn't expect anything less," Oliver said, smiling.

* * *

><p>"Cuz we need to get you a dress for this weekend!" Lois shouted at Chloe, which echoed through the Talon.<p>

"What, I thought you were going away this weekend with Clark," Chloe said.

"I am, but don't you remember you agreed to go to the fundraiser with Ollie," Lois said. Chloe groaned in realization, the idea was becoming less and less appealing by the second.

"Oh I completely forgot, it doesn't matter anyway I've got a dress already I could wear in my closet," Chloe said.

"Chloe, Chloe, Chloe," Lois said patting Chloe on the back each time she said Chloe. "When are you going to understand that you need to dress to impress? Oliver has seen all your dresses. You need to buy a new one, so that you can rock Ollie's socks off,"

"Lois we have had this conversation before, Oliver and I are just friends," Chloe said. For some reason Lois had got this crazy idea in her head that they were supposed to be more.

"Ok, ok, whatever you say but please let's buy you a new dress," "So you can look smokin' for Ollie," Lois mumbled, but loud enough for Chloe to hear.

"Lois," Chloe scolded.

"Fine, fine," Lois put up her hands in mock surrender.

"Chloe you have to try on the green one on," Lois said shoving it in Chloe's hands.

"Just because Ollie likes green does not mean I have to wear a green dress," Chloe said adamantly, "especially as I am not trying to impress him," Chloe said.

"Fine but you would look hot in the green dress; it would go with your eyes." Lois said, "Here try this one on instead," Lois said throwing a dark red dress into Chloe's arms. Chloe eventually decided to buy it, with Lois encouragement (threats.)

* * *

><p>"You look beautiful Chloe," Oliver said spinning her around on the dance floor.<p>

"Thank you," Chloe said blushing. The song ended and the two decided to mingle. The two were soon caught up in a group talking.

"So then we decided we'd just have to get a bigger yacht," A woman said the punch line to an incredibly boring story in a posh voice and the group started laughing. Chloe, on the other hand just couldn't understand why it was funny. She knew Oliver was only fake laughing because he had to keep up appearances, but she just didn't belong. Oliver was soon pulled away by a business partner, which meant Chloe was left to fend for herself amongst the rich group.

"So, Chloe is it?" A man turned to ask her; apparently he was a Duke of some sort. Chloe nodded. "What do you do for a living?"

"I work at Queen Industries as a-" Chloe started but was interrupted, she obviously couldn't tell the group she worked as the field coordinator for a team of superheroes that coincidently Oliver was part of so her cover story was that she worked for a charity. However she didn't get halfway through her sentence before she was interrupted.

"Dipping your pen in the company ink," A snooty women said laughing.

"Oh well I'm sure it won't last for long, you just want to see how the high society live? Don't you? It must be dressing up and coming to this event with Oliver Queen," A man with very long moustache said.

"Ummm, well we're just friends," Chloe said.

"Oh, hoping to get some money out of this billionaire, are you?" The snooty women said.

"No of course not-"Chloe said trying to defend herself but was interrupted again.

"Well they all say that," The Duke said.

"If you'd excuse me," Chloe said, heading towards the bar, she hated these events but usually Oliver was with her and they could make fun of them, but he looked currently distracted. She sat down at the bar feeling humiliated. Somehow the rich group had succeeded at bringing down her self-esteem and she suddenly felt terrible about herself. She wasn't even sure what they had said in particular, she just knew that she didn't belong.

"Three shots and a martini please," Chloe said. It probably wasn't the best idea to get drunk but people were starting to leave anyway. She wouldn't get too drunk; she just wanted something to take the edge off.

* * *

><p>The hall had cleared pretty quickly and it was just Chloe at the bar and a couple of business associates that Oliver was talking too. Eventually Oliver's company called it a night and Oliver headed over to talk to Chloe.<p>

"I'm sorry sidekick, I couldn't leave them. I've been trying to seal a deal with them for months and I think might have finally succeeded," Oliver said. "Let's get you home," Oliver said looking at Chloe, she was clearly drunk. Oliver couldn't help but be worried; Chloe hardly ever got drunk and by looking at her she obviously couldn't hold her liquor which wasn't surprising when you saw her petite frame.

"But I don't want to go home; I want to stay with you because you're my best friend,"

Chloe sang happily. She stood up and started dancing drunk around the room. "Come Ollie get on dancing shoes," Chloe half laughed and half slurred.

"Sorry Chloe I left them at home, let's go and get them," Oliver said.

"Oh, what are we waiting for then? Let's go, get them," Chloe said, grabbing Oliver's hand.

"I am so drunk," Chloe said swinging around a lamppost as they walked to Oliver's car. "Did you know Ollie, that you are really cute and you look really hot in green leather," Chloe slurred poking him. "But I am not- I can't think that- 'cos we are best friends," Chloe slurred. Oliver just laughed.

"Your cute too Chloe," Oliver said, leading her to his car.

"And hot," Chloe said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest and stopped walking.

"And hot," Oliver repeated laughing while helping Chloe into the passenger seat of his car.

Oliver glanced at Chloe as he was driving; she had fallen asleep and looked peaceful as she slept. It always made him smile. He drove into the darkness until they reached the Clock-Tower. He laid her on his bed and decided to sleep on the couch and he too soon fell asleep.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Firstly I would like to say _huge_ thank you to my beta _Stop Dreaming! _Thank you for reading I hope you enjoyed this chapter, anyone want to guess what happens the next morning? Reviews are always welcome! **


	3. Watchtower has been Compromised

**THE FRIEND ZONE **

**Chapter Three **

Oliver woke up and smiled suddenly remembering last night activities. He laughed at the fact that, not only had Chloe called him cute but she also called him hot. He got up and decided to check on her, walking towards his bedroom he noticed that she was curled up in the covers where he had left her last night.

Hearing Oliver's footsteps she opened her eyes and sat up, while groaning and clutching her head.

"It seems you have got yourself quite the hangover there sidekick," Oliver said, "here," offering her a pill and a glass of water.

"I can barely remember anything about last night," Chloe said while Oliver laughed.  
>"I've had a lot of nights like that," Oliver stated as Chloe laughed.<p>

_Ring_

_Ring_

_Ring _

Grabbing the phone of the side and checking the caller id, Chloe turned to Ollie and said, "It's Lois, I better answer it," Oliver nodded and walked out the room.

"How was last night?" Lois asked eagerly.

"I got very drunk," Chloe answered.

"What why?"

"The rich people got me down," Chloe said bluntly

"Chloe, you are way better than any of those stuffy horrible people."

"I know but I just didn't belong and Ollie had to talk to his business partners and I was only supposed to have one drink to take the edge off but one turned into several and then the rest of the night became a blur," Chloe said.

"I cannot believe Ollie left you alone to fend by yourself!"

"It wasn't his fault-"Chloe started but was unsurprisingly interrupted by Lois.

"It wasn't his fault my ass!" Lois shouted.

"Lois please don't shout, I'm nursing a massive hangover," Chloe whined.

"Fine, fine I'll let it go," Lois said. "I've got to go anyway, bye Cuz."

"Bye Lois." Chloe hung up the phone and got dressed and walked into living room, where Oliver was typing away on this laptop.

"So on a scale of 1 to 10 how bad was I last night?" Chloe asked.

"Really not that bad, you did dance though," Oliver asked. "Oh and you called me cute," laughing at the fact Chloe had now gone a bright shade of red. "Oh and apparently I look hot in green leather," Oliver said, leaving the best until last.

At this Chloe ran into the bathroom, which Oliver assumed was from embarrassment.

"Chloe," Oliver said through the bathroom door, "come on you don't need to be embarrassed."

There was a long pause and Oliver decided it was best to sit back down on the couch.

"For the record I think you're hot too," Oliver said. He heard Chloe burst out laughing. "Chloe?" He questioned.

"I wasn't hiding because I was embarrassed, which I am, but I had to throw up," Chloe said.

"Oh," Oliver said slightly embarrassed himself, and was secretly glad there was a door between the two so Chloe couldn't see him.

"But it does make me feel better that you think I'm hot," Chloe said, she came out of the bathroom and the pair started laughing. Oliver went off to work while Chloe went to Watchtower.

* * *

><p><em>"Watchtower has been compromised."<em>

_"Watchtower has been compromised."_

_"Watchtower has been compromised," screamed out through the speakers._

Chloe looked around frantically, the red light flashing throughout the building. How had someone got through the security, she was constantly updating it. Had they figured out the guys identities? How much did they know? Were they a known enemy?

She grabbed her laptop and sprinted out as she quickly as she could. Someone knew about Watchtower, where should she go? Her first thought was the Talon but of course it was too far away, which was why she also ruled out the farmhouse. The Clock-tower she thought, Oliver had all kinds of security she would be safe there. Taking deep breaths she tried to calm herself down; she would be safe at Oliver's she just had to get there first.

She carried on running, bumping into people on street as she did. She ran straight into a man, unfortunately when she tried to move out of his way, the man grabbed her tightly.

"Chloe Sullivan, don't move or I'll shoot. Now follow me and don't make a sound and don't draw attention to yourself," he said in a gruff voice. Chloe nodded, there was no point in fighting and after all she had no idea who or what she was dealing with.

He pushed the gun into her thigh, pushing Chloe to walk faster and fear shook through her. Of course she had been in these situations before, lots of times in fact, but every time she couldn't help getting scared, even if it was just the tiniest bit, it was a natural human reaction. She turned into an alley and was surrounded by darkness. The only hope she had was that the Justice League would save her. Oliver would save her.

And then suddenly everything went black.

* * *

><p>Oliver sat in a meeting; getting more bored by the second. The man in front of him was going on and on and on... Oliver's phone bleeped. "Would you excuse me?" Oliver asked and the man nodded. Oliver silently said thank you to whoever sent him the text at least it gave him an excuse to get out of the meeting, as he opened the message he became nervous.<p>

WATCHTOWER HAS BEEN COMPROMISED.

After the last time the building had shut, himself and Chloe had decided that it would be best to automatically alert the justice league, (Clark, Lois, Bart, Victor, AC, himself and Chloe.) His thoughts went to straight to Chloe; was she there? Was she safe? He quickly put on his Green Arrow costume and sprinted to his bike. While on the way to Watchtower he tried to calling Chloe and when she didn't answer, it made him worry even more. When he arrived at the building, he received a call from Clark.

"Meet at the Farmhouse, Watchtower has been taken," Clarks' voice rang through the phone. Oliver jumped back on his bike and rode as fast as he could to Smallville, the whole way only thinking on one person; Chloe.

"Clark, Clark?" He shouted as he got to the house.

"We're up here," He heard Lois reply. Oliver sprinted up the stairs.

"Where is she? Is she ok? Who took her? How do we find her?" Oliver said frantically. The group were sitting on sofas positioned in a circle. As Oliver sat down, Lois walked up to him and hugged him. She knew how much this must be hurting him; after all he was in love with her blonde cousin.

"Oliver we don't know, we can't get in contact with Chloe and she was definitely in Watchtower when it was compromised," Victor said.

"We have to find her," Oliver said.

"We will, Oliver. I promise you, but at the moment we need to focus on tracking her down," Lois said.

"I have already digged out old enemy records and we need to look for anything that suggests their back in business," Clark said. Oliver nodded.

"Let's get to work then," Oliver said.

* * *

><p>"I've got nothing!" Oliver said frustrated, throwing papers across the room.<p>

"Oliver calm down," Clark said.

"She's out there Clark, we need to find her!" Oliver said annoyed.

"Hey I've got something, guys it's Lex. There's an old warehouse about 50 miles from here and Lex was seen going inside. Chloe is was taken there, around two hours later," AC said pointing at the screen, which showed a car pulling up and Chloe was seen coming out of it, her mouth gagged and a blindfold over her eyes.

"Let's go!" Oliver said jumping up.

"Wait Oliver slow down a minute," Clark said.

""Who cares its Chloe, we have to save her!" Oliver said.

"You've got to save Chloe, Oliver's right," Lois said, the others nodded; there was no way they were leaving their precious Watchtower with Lex.

"Oliver we'll save her, but we need to plan first," Bart said.

"We need to go now!" Oliver said, they getting more agitated.

"We can't just run in guns blazing, come on Oliver you know it makes sense," Clark said, Oliver nodded knowing Clark was right. They couldn't just run in without planning anything, who knows how strong Lex was.

Eventually they had finished their planning and the group were ready to go Bart, AC and Victor were going to take out the guards, while Oliver and Clark were going to go sneak through the back to try and find Chloe. Lois on the other hand was filling in as Watchtower.

* * *

><p>"Miss Sullivan," A voice came booming through the cell she was currently being held in.<p>

"Lex, what a pleasant surprise," Chloe said sarcastically.

"I missed your snark Chloe, you always do entertain," Lex said.

"So what will it be this time Lex?" Chloe asked, the thing about being kidnapped was that as soon as they put her in the cell, it got quite boring especially when you knew who your kidnapper was. The problem was that she knew as soon as she got out the cell she would be most likely fighting for her life.

"Your meteor powers," Lex said. Chloe laughed.

"Wow Lex Luthor not researching properly. I no longer have my meteor powers."

"That is exactly what I want to know. How do turn your meteor powers on and off?" Lex asked, hardly expecting Chloe to tell him, but silently hoping she would release some information by accident. _Try getting attacked by Braniac that's what worked for me_, Chloe thought sarcastically.

She sighed it was going to be a long night.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Thank you for all the positive reviews! Thanks to my beta! Hope you enjoyed the chapter. **


	4. Should we Wake them?

**THE FRIEND ZONE **

**Chapter Four **

Oliver sprinted through the Warehouse, which was unfortunately huge. He and Clark had split up so they could cover more ground, but neither of them seemed to be getting anywhere. Lois was filling in as Watchtower, but as there were no security cameras, she was going in blind. She only had the blue prints of the building, which considering the mission, it wasn't much to go on.

"Arrow, try the door on your right, it leads to a huge room, she might be in there," Lois said hopefully. She was anxious to find her cousin and was getting impatient. "Impulse are all the security guards down?"

"Nearly," Bart said, kicking the last in the head.

"Good, Boy-scout any luck?" she questioned, knowing that if there had been she would have been informed.

"No," Clark replied, every door he had opened lead to nothing.

"Arrow?" Lois asked.

"No, another door, another dead end," Oliver growled, the anger was evident in his voice. He was quickly losing hope, he needed to find Chloe, and she needed to be ok. He didn't dare to think otherwise.

"Keep trying Arrow," Lois said.

"Cyborg, Aquaman what's your status?" Lois asked.

"I can't see any more guards and no one appears to be patrolling. Lex must have got cocky," AC said looking around.

"By-line I found a lab," Clark said, using Lois's codename.

"Is Watchtower there?" Lois asked.

"No," Clark said. "Lex doesn't appear to be here either and it's unguarded. I guess even billionaire villain's need to sleep." It was nice to reminded every once in a while that Lex was in fact human.

"I found her," Oliver said, his words echoing in everyone's ears, each sighing in relief. He started miming to Chloe that he was going to get her out of there.

"Arrow, report location," Lois said.

"North wing, third corridor, fourth room on the left," Oliver said. "I think I can manage to pick the lock, although I might need some assistance boy-scout," He stated, looking through the window every couple of minutes to check Chloe was ok.

"Boy-scout, find Arrow and Tower. The others can keep guard," Lois said.

"On my way," Clark said, whooshing off. Oliver eventually managed to pick the lock, before rushing over to Chloe pulling off her gag and undoing her hands. He then pulled her into a fierce hug. At that moment Clark whooshed in, hugging Chloe as well. She didn't look beaten up just frail and exhausted. She beamed as soon she saw them; a knowing smile that Oliver had come to love.

"Let's get out of there," Clark said, while Oliver nodded and passed Chloe a comm. device, which she put in her ear. His arm was around Chloe's waist, making sure she didn't fall over, she obviously hadn't eaten or slept and she looked very pale.

The team were soon on the way back to Watchtower however Chloe was exhausted and she soon fell asleep in Oliver's arms. Bart ran to go and get Emil to have Chloe checked over. After he was done, Oliver tucked her into one of the bedrooms at Watchtower.

* * *

><p>Chloe slowly woke up, looking around at her surroundings, she was in a bedroom although it wasn't her own it didn't take her long to work out that she was at Watchtower. She looked out of the corner of her eye; Oliver was slumped asleep beside her on a chair. He didn't very look comfortable but he had a peaceful expression on his face so Chloe decided not to wake him. He was probably just as exhausted as she was. How long had she been asleep? Somehow she still felt tired. She got up after hearing her tummy rubble, realising she hadn't eaten in about a day.<p>

She made her way slowly into the kitchen, before pouring some cereal and orange juice as she couldn't be bothered to do anything else, as soon as she had eaten she was going straight back to bed. Making her way into the bedroom, she bumped into the table, waking Oliver as she did.

"Owww," Chloe said.

"You're awake," Oliver asked concern in his eyes.

"Not for long, I'm going back to bed," Chloe mumbled, crawling into the bed, glancing at Oliver as he settled himself in the chair.

"Oliver why don't you go in the other bedroom and lie down," Chloe offered he didn't look very comfortable and knowing him he probably hadn't left her side.

"If it's alright I'd prefer to stay there, that way I know your safe. Scared the crap outta me today Sidekick," Oliver said.

"Ollie look at me I'm fine, I'm here. I just need sleep. I'll bounce back in no time." They hadn't really talked about what had happened yet and she supposed they would when the team arrived. She glanced at Oliver again; he was fidgeting in the chair.

"Ollie there's enough room if you err-" Chloe said blushing bright pink, "want to share the bed, it will be more comfortable," suddenly thinking it was bad idea, but he looked uncomfortable and he refused to leave her.

"Sure," Oliver said, kicking off his shoes and getting into the bed. "Night sidekick," Oliver said kissing the top of her head.

"Night Ollie," Chloe mumbled, falling asleep within minutes she was truly exhausted.

Oliver lay awake, Chloe had been kidnapped today and she had been taken by Lex. What would he have done to her if they hadn't saved her? Would she had been tested on or would he have simply killed her? Oliver just couldn't imagine life without Chloe. He didn't want to picture his life without her. He glanced at her sleeping by his side, pulling her closer as if to confirm that she was indeed real, alive and safe. He fell asleep soon after.

* * *

><p>"Do you think we should wake them?" Lois asked a confused looking Clark.<p>

"No leave them be," Christine said, she smiled fondly. They looked at peace, which wasn't a look that often appeared on either of their faces.

"I vote we should wake them, I want to hear Chloliscious's side of the story," Bart said impatiently. He wanted to know what happened so he and the team could ensure it never happened again.

"Do you think they finally worked it out?" Victor asked.

"Maybe, we should wake them and find out," AC said getting as impatient as Bart.

"Look at them, of course they did," Mera, AC's wife said. They had been married for two years and no one had ever seen AC happier.

"Nah," Mia said, Bart's now girlfriend. Herself and Bart had been together for six months and although she couldn't say he was the one, she could safely say he was a candidate. She knew Oliver well and she didn't think he was there yet even if Chloe had been kidnapped. He hadn't even admitted his feelings for Chloe to himself, so there was no way he could admit them to her.

"I bet you ten bucks," Mera said.

"You're on," Mia replied and they shaked on it.

"Let's wake them up!" Bart said and before anyone had a chance to stop them he had woken up Oliver.

"What are you doing?" Oliver said in a whisper though it sounded like a shout. Glancing around and seeing the justice league plus their significant others, were gathered around the bed, he shook his head. "This is a bit creepy."

"Oh its fine," Lois hushed "the real question is; are you two together?" She was getting tired on him skipping around. She just wished they would get together already.

"What! No, we're just friends," Oliver said, everyone groaned like it was like a broken record.

"Hah," Mia said and Mera reluctantly gave her ten dollars.

"What is with this betting thing?" Oliver asked, everyone just shrugged not giving him a real answer.

"I think you should wake Chloe," Lois said.

"Guys she got kidnapped yesterday let her sleep," Oliver said. "Why did you have to wake me up anyway and why do you want to wake her?" Glancing at Chloe's sleeping figure.

"Mia and Mera bet about whether you were together or not and besides we're all desperate to know what happened," Clark answered.

"Ok I'll wake her up, but soon we need to talk about this whole betting thing," Oliver said.

"Just wake her up," Lois said impatiently.

"Chloe," Oliver whispered gently shaking her, "Sidekick wake up," Oliver said.

"Ollie, five more minutes," Chloe mumbled, obviously not really awake.

"Chloe wake up," Oliver said.

"You're mean, I was kidnapped yesterday," she said crawling under the covers.

"It wasn't me who insisted you wake up."

"Then who was it?" She asked, opening her eyes. "Ahhhh," Chloe screamed upon seeing the large group gathered around her bed and ducking under the covers, the whole group burst out laughing at the shocked look on her face.

"So tell us from the beginning," Lois said, as the group made themselves comfortable around the bed. Chloe began to tell them, how watchtower was compromised and how she started to run towards Oliver's but a man grabbed her and forced her to the car. She continued to explain how she blacked out and when she became conscious she came face to face with Lex and how he wanted to know how she turned her powers on and off.

"Just the usual kidnapping," Chloe joked.

"Chloe this is no joke. How do you always find a way to get into trouble?" Clark said. She just shrugged.

"Now if you would all like to get out of the room, I want to go back to bed for a couple of hours." The group nodded at Chloe and filed out the room, Oliver knelt down kissing her head before following the others.


	5. Hit and Run

**_Previously on the Friend Zone_**

_Oliver and Chloe are best friends with the potential to be something more. Chloe broke down due to forgetting the anniversary of Jimmy's death. Oliver comforts her and Chloe feels uncomfortable, she gets over it and they go to the diner with Clark and Lois. Oliver persuades Chloe to be his date to a fundraiser, Chloe ends up getting drunk. The day after she get kidnapped by Lex due to him wanting to know how to turn on and off her powers. The Justice League save her and her and Ollie fall asleep. The Justice League continues to bet on when they will get together. _

* * *

><p><strong>THE FRIEND ZONE<strong>

**Chapter Five**

Chloe recovered quickly from the kidnapping and within a week she was back to her usual self, falling back into of the routine of helping the team, making sure they were ok. Chloe, Oliver, Bart, Victor and AC were lounging around in Watchtower. Victor, AC and Bart were playing on the latest game console and Oliver was talking on the couch behind. Oliver had been behaving differently since the accident, he was more protective and constantly checking that she was ok, it was getting on Chloe's nerves, but she was learning to live with it, she knew that it would die down after a while and that she had really scared him, it was just because he was worried about her.

"You cheated," Bart accused Victor.

"No I didn't, how could I cheat?" Victor said.

"Your half machine I don't know," Bart said.

"Like you're innocent," AC said, "I saw you," he added, pointing at Bart.

"I didn't do anything!" Bart denied. There was a pause and the three men stared at each other for a second, then proceeded to jump on each other and start wrestling.

"Boys!" Chloe shouted and they all sprung apart. "Stop arguing!" She said annoyed.

"He started it," Bart said pointing at Victor; which only led to Victor jumping on Bart and two resumed wrestling, as AC stood cheering. Oliver had to break them apart, grabbing on to Bart.

"Listen to Chloe, how can we work as a team if you are constantly arguing about stupid stuff like game consoles?" Oliver questioned.

"Just say sorry to each other and think about your actions next time," Chloe said the three nodded and mumbled apologies to each other. Chloe and Oliver walked towards the kitchen leaving the guys to carry on playing.

"You know I think we've brought them up well," Oliver joked.

"They do act like a bunch of kids don't they?" Chloe said.

Bart, Victor and AC had continued to play on the game.

"When do you think Mum and Dad will get it together, I feel like my parents are divorced," Bart said, nodding over to Chloe and Oliver standing in the kitchen. Victor and AC laughed.

"They were never together so they can't be divorced," Victor pointed out.

"Yeah well I wish they would its getting boring," Bart said.

"What's the date today?" AC asked.

"30th why?" Victor answered.

"That's why you want them to be together you said you bet they would be together by the end of the month and today is the last day you could win!" AC said, Bart shrugged.

"Come on it must be annoying you too, Chloeliscious was supposed to be mine and he has her and he doesn't even do anything about it!" Bart said.

"They'll get together eventually," Victor said glancing at the two of them, who were standing in the kitchen talking in hushed tones, Chloe pushed him lightly clearly in response to light teasing and Oliver beamed, as the two moved closer to each other, laughing at something Chloe said.

At that moment Lois came rushing in.

"I've found something that might more your department than the police," she said. Lois was often supplying them cases now that she knew what they did and she finally understood why Clarke disappeared half way through their investigating.

"There have been number of deaths, the police have dubbed them as hits and runs but I think differently," Lois said as she walked confidently over to the table. "This person was discovered yesterday night, look there is no way a car could fit down that alleyway."

"Do you think it could be a Meta or something of the sort?" Bart asked.

"Exactly," Lois said.

"I think you might be right, there is no way a car could fit down such a small lane, what injuries did the victims have?" Victor questioned.

"Internal bleeding and a number of bruises, the injuries varied but those were the common ones, they were classic car injuries, but there were no tire marks, no nothing, no sign that a car had even been there," Lois said.

"If the car was driving fast enough to commit that amount of damage there would definitely be tyre marks and there are none in any of these photos, and like you said a car could not fit down that alleyway it's impossible," Chloe said analysing the crime scene photos.

"Right Bart I want you to go to go the locations and see what you can find," Oliver said.

"Victor do background checks on everyone that was hit, see if you can find anything in common," Chloe said.

"AC call up John Jones and see if he can find anything in the police records and see what he knows," Oliver said, as him and Chloe took turns in giving orders.

"Lois if you find any others killings of the same description contact us, you better get to work, thank you for telling us," Chloe said formally to her cousin.

"No problem, Cuz," Lois said. Noticing Chloe was now in Watchtower mode, when she was like that it was usually best to get on with what she was saying, Lois waved goodbye and left the building.

"I'm going to analyse these photos and see if there's anything we've missed," Chloe said signalling to the photos.

"I'll contact Clark and find out if he knows anything, when he was patrolling last night," Oliver said, "Meet back here in two hours." Everyone nodded and went off in the direction to do their respective job.

Chloe had been looking at the crime photos for hours but had found nothing, although the more she looked at it she was sure a meteor- affected person had done it, a hit and run was looking more and more unlikely.

Victor had been looking into these people for hours but had found no common link, there different ages, had different background and no common occupation frankly they were just a group of random people all killed by the same method.

Oliver had called Clark, who didn't seem to know anything, he hadn't seen anything suspicious around the alleyway where the murder took place, and he didn't even know the murder had taken place.

AC had found the police records and just like he had suspected they hadn't written much only filing it under car accident, which was no help, he had spoken to John Jones who said he had thought it was suspicious, but wasn't sure what else could have cause the injuries.

Bart had surveyed the crime scene and found nothing whoever this guy was he was good. There were no clues, no nothing.

The group meet back at Watchtower each expressing their failure.

"It like Clark has ran into them," Chloe said. "That's it, the person must be made of steel or something like that, but still doesn't understand why they would kill these people, and I really don't think this is a serial killer."

"Right we need to find witnesses" Oliver exclaimed, "there must be some, somewhere."

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Sorry it took me so long to post, but I hope I've still got readers! Thank you to my wonderful Beta and there's a question favourite member of the justice league out of AC, Victor, Bart, Oliver etc.? Anyway Reviews are loved! **


	6. The Witness

_Oliver and Chloe are best friends with the potential to be something more. Chloe broke down due to forgetting the anniversary of Jimmy's death. Oliver comforts her and Chloe feels uncomfortable, she gets over it and they go to the diner with Clark and Lois. Oliver persuades Chloe to be his date to a fundraiser, Chloe ends up getting drunk. The day after she get kidnapped by Lex due to him wanting to know how to turn on and off her powers. The Justice League save her and her and Ollie fall asleep. The Justice League to continue to bet on when they will get together. Lois think something is up with the recent killings and the team investigate into it, coming up with nothing. _

* * *

><p><strong>THE FRIEND ZONE<strong>

**Chapter Six**

Chloe stared at the man in front of her; every bone in her body was crawling with disgust. She despised him, but he was her only shot to sort this mess out and no matter how uncomfortable he made her feel she had to keep a cool head on.

After the group had decided to look for witnesses Oliver had returned to work and the others had somewhere else to be. AC had an animal's rights convention, Victor to meet Christine and Bart, well Chloe had no idea where he had to be, but he left anyway.

A while later Chloe received a phone call from John Jones saying they had a record of a witness who he claimed had seen a car. Chloe however was sure that he had been black mailed or bribed and after doing a quick background check and coming up with nothing, she decided to contact him in his office. He was office manager for a company that sold paper and being in a public place would, hopefully make him less inclined to lie.

_ -Flashback-_

_She walked up the stairs to Mr Davidson's floor and greeted the receptionist._

_"How can I help you?" The receptionist said chirpily._

_ "I would like to speak to a Mr Davidson please," Chloe said._

_"I'm Sorry; Mr Davidson is in meetings all day. You'll have to come back another time." The receptionist said with a fake smile. _

_"Oh, ok. Thanks anyway, I just wanted to talk to him about job opportunities. Do you like him as a boss?" Chloe said casually. The woman didn't think anything of it and chatted casually. _

_"He's amazing you know, he's just inspirational, he says he's going to promote me any day now, how cool is that?" Her eyes glazing off into a daydream. _

_"Is that your son?" Chloe said sweetly, pointing at the picture to the side of her bringing the woman out of her daydream. The woman blinked and nodded. "How would he feel if he found out his mother slept with the her boss? In fact what would the office say? I wonder what would happen to you." _

_"I think I can squeeze you in, ahead straight in," The receptionist gulped, while Chloe nodded heading straight for the door. _

_"Hello," She said walking into the office and sticking out her hand to the man gentleman, he ignored her not looking up from his and continued to work at his computer. _

_"I'm Sarah Brown, and I have a few questions for you," Chloe said, using one of her many different covers. Today she had decided to do the classic and pose as a cop. _

_"And you are?" The man sneered impolitely. _

_"Sarah Brown," Chloe repeated. "I'm a Policewoman," Chloe said smiling. "I've come to follow up on your witness account."_

_"I've given my statement," The man said. "Just a few more answers needed," Chloe said. The man finally looked up from the computer. _

_"How about we talk about this over dinner, sweet cheeks." Chloe sighed and looked him up and down. She obviously wasn't going to get anything out of him and at the moment dinner looked like her only option._

_ "Fine meet me at the Italian at the end of Main Street and may I remind you Mr Davidson, that this is strictly business." CHe smiled and went straight back to his computer screen, and Chloe showed herself out. _

_-End of Flashback- _

"... and I said get out and I'm like do it in your own time if you want, I mean?" Mr Davidson laughed while spewing food everywhere. Chloe thought was the punch line which Chloe had a decided was a combination of racism, sexism and was just downright rudeness.

"Mr Davidson" Chloe sighed and decided to get down to business "what do you know about the accident you saw?"

"A car hit a guy about twenty five. There's not much to say on the matter, on the other hand there is a lot to say about me and you," He said smirked.

"A car you say what did he look like?" Chloe said purposely saying 'he' to see whether she could get anything out of him.

"I don't know he had blonde ha-"Mr Davidson started then promptly stopped, releasing what he had said looking shocked.

"So you admit it was a person."

"No I believe you are confused Sarah."

"People's lives are at stake here Mr Davidson. He has already killed and he is going to do it again." Chloe said the desperation showing through her voice. He looked at her with pity, the first emotion he had used that showed her the slightest hint that he was a good person.

"I can't," Mr Davidson said looking weak. "Please," Chloe said knowing she was breaking him down.

"They blackmailed me," He whispered.

"Who?" Chloe asked, her voice barely a whisper.

"I don't know, Sarah there was a man he-" He stammered, "rolled into him and the man just fell, he was killed on impact. That's all I know," He continued.

"I know thank you," Chloe said getting up. She wasn't staying so she threw some notes down on the table, they both stood up.

"Sarah I'm sorry," Mr Davidson he said he while he pulled Chloe her into a hug before she had time to react.

Oliver was walking towards watchtower planning to surprise Chloe with coffee. He glanced into a restaurant as he walked past. Wait, was that Chloe? She was standing at the exit hugging a man. Chloe was standing a restaurant hugging a man! Were they together? Was she dating him? Why didn't she tell him ? How long had they been dating? Oliver felt anger course through him.

He dropped the coffee in the bin, trying to make his way to Watchtower before she saw him; a million emotions ran through him; sadness, anger and was that jealously? Whatever it was, Oliver wanted answers and he was going to get them.

As Chloe walked back to Watchtower she started going over what Mr Davidson had told her. He had just confirmed what she had already known. The killings were committed by a person, not a car and they had blackmailed Mr Davidson. He has said something about a person rolling, why would a person roll? She needed to inform the team.

Oliver paced up and down Watchtower. He was on his thirtieth lap when the elevator doors opened and Chloe emerged. "So have a nice date?" Oliver said snidely.

"What oh with-"Chloe started but was cut off by Oliver.

"I saw the two of you together." Oliver said.

"Yes you saw-"She started but was again interrupted by Oliver.

"What will the team think? You're going to be distracted from Watchtower and have you even done a security check on him?" He shouted. AC, Bart, Victor and Lois arrived in the building, looking upon the two in curiosity.

"What is going on here?" Lois asked.

"Chloe is dating someone without any regard for Watchtower. How can she be so careless?" Oliver exclaimed.

"You're dating someone!" Lois said with shock. Usually she would be happy that her cousin was dating someone, but from watching her cousin and Oliver, she knew that they were meant to be together. She would however pretend to be happy for her cousin and support the relationship with this supposed other guy100%.

"If you would just listen, I-"Chloe shouted but was again cut off.

"Chloe you have to think before jumping into these things," Oliver shouted.

"What like you've background checked every woman you've ever slept with, I don't think so Oliver!" Chloe said giving up trying to explain to him seeing as he wouldn't listen.

"Well I do now!"

"Please you've slept with hundreds of women, why are rules different for you!" Chloe countered extremely frustrated.

"They're not; you never follow the rules anyway!"

"Of course I follow the rules!"

"You are always going against instructions!" Oliver bellowed.

"I wouldn't have to if you made decent decisions!"

"Look I think you should both calm down there," Lois said as she tried to intervene but was ignored. The others watched as if it was a tennis match, looked back and forth.

"You don't care about anyone else!" Oliver said, knowing as he said it that it wasn't true. She was probably the most caring person he knew, but occasionally the anger overcame him.

"That's it not true. My life if devoted to saving your sorry ass!"

"Well maybe you should stop!" Oliver shouted.

"Fine, I quit!" Chloe shouted storming out. Bart, Victor and AC turned to follow her to convince her to come back but Lois stopped them.

"I think it's better if I handle this," Lois said, sending a glare in Oliver's direction and strode out.

"Dude that was not cool," AC said. Oliver nodded, an angst look on his face, wondering how that got so out of hand.

* * *

><p><em>Thank you for all the amazing reviews they inspired to update so thank you for the steady encouragement! Thanks as always to Stop Dreaming and I hope everyone enjoyed this chapter! Please review and tell me what you think is going to happen, will Chloe forgive Oliver? Will Oliver realise his mistake? :)<em>


	7. Oliver's in trouble

**_Last time on_ THE FRIEND ZONE**-

_Oliver and Chloe are best friends with the potential to be something more. Chloe broke down due to forgetting the anniversary of Jimmy's death. Oliver comforts her and Chloe feels uncomfortable, she gets over it and they go to the diner with Clark and Lois. Oliver persuades Chloe to be his date to a fundraiser, Chloe ends up getting drunk. The day after she get kidnapped by Lex due to him wanting to know how to turn on and off her powers. The Justice League save her and her and Ollie fall asleep. The Justice League to continue to bet on when they will get together. Lois think something is up with the recent killings and the team investigate into it, coming up with nothing. Chloe, finds a witness and goes to interview him, he agrees but only if they go to a restaurant, Oliver sees and get jealous. The two argue and Chloe quits. _

* * *

><p><strong>THE FRIEND ZONE <strong>

**Chapter Seven **

"Do you want to explain to me what just happened back there and since when do you have a boyfriend?" Lois asked, confused. She and Chloe were sitting on a bench outside watchtower watching cars go by. She was going to be patient and wait until Chloe was ready to tell her what was going on but her curiosity got the better of her.

"I don't have a boyfriend." Chloe sighed. "Oliver didn't give me enough time to explain, and then I got annoyed and decided that if he didn't want to listen then I wasn't going to tell him," She paused. "I quit Watchtower Lois. I quit. I love my job and I quit. He made me, I hate him. Who does he think he is?" The anger was building up inside her.

"Chloe, we both know you don't hate him," Lois said, _quite the opposite actually, _she thought.

"I quit," Chloe murmured quietly still slightly shell socked.

"Look Chloe, you and Oliver will work this out. You often argue but you always make up in the end."

"But I've never quit, this is different," she said while Lois nodded not quite sure what to say. Her cousin had just lost her best friend and the guy she was in love with on the same day.

* * *

><p><em>Knock, knock <em>

"Oliver open the door now!" Lois shouted. Oliver grimaced; Lois was last person he wanted to deal with right now.

"OLIVER, OLIVER, OLIVER," Lois continued shouting. It was clear that she was not going to stop until he opened the door. Oliver begrudgingly got up and answered ite and wasn't surprised to see a very angry Lois Lane on the other side.

"How could you do that to Chloe?" she said barging past him.

"Do what? She's the one that quit!" He claimed, annoyed.

"You shouldn't have given her the option. Now get your stupid ass out of this door and go and give her a heartfelt apology and if you want to profess your undying love for her that would be great as well."

"I don't have undying love for Chloe."

"Whatever," Lois said clearly not believing him, "Just get your butt over to her apartment, apologise and let her explain."

"Fine, I'll let her explain and then apologise, but I am not going to tell this guy my identity."

"I don't think that will be a problem, now go!" Lois said, trying to push Oliver out the door.

* * *

><p>"Chloe," Oliver muttered as he knocked on her door. "Please open the door." He waited for a couple of minutes before the door slowly opened.<p>

"What do you want Oliver?" Chloe said harshly.

"I came so you could explain what happened," Oliver said.

"What do you mean explain what happened. I walk into Watchtower and you start having a massive go at me," Chloe said.

"You could have at least told me, you have a boyfriend,"

_Ring _

_Ring _

_Ring _

Chloe picked up the phone, "Uh Uh."

"Are you sure?"

"No this is terrible."

"It's my entire fault."

"Ok bye," she said looking shocked as she hung up the phone.

Turning back to Oliver, white as a sheet, she spoke softly "He's dead."

"Who's dead?" Oliver asked a worried expression on his face.

"Mr Davidson," she murmured.

"Who?" he questioned, but Chloe ignored him.

"I can't believe it. It's my fault and you how dare you come in here and start asking me to explain. Why do I have to explain myself to you?" Chloe asked her expression going from grief to anger, "Get out."

"What Chloe, I don't think-" Oliver started but was cut off by Chloe.

"What are you deaf? I said get out!" She shouted pointing to the door, Oliver nodded and silently walked out the door, Chloe crumbled, falling to the sofa feeling nothing but guilt.

* * *

><p>Oliver and Chloe hadn't spoken for a week and it was beginning to take its toll on everyone. The league were missing her greatly but knew their Boss was going through pain so decided it would best to let the situation cool before trying to persuade Chloe to rejoin the team. Lois was constantly worried about her cousin and Oliver. Unfortunately for Clark he was on the other side of it, hearing Lois constantly moan about them and complain about why they wouldn't just in her words, 'get it on.'<p>

"Bossman, I think you should just call her,"

"What, who?" Oliver asked trying to play dumb but Bart raised his eyebrows.

"Come on man, you know you want to," he said.

"She chucked me out."

"You made her quit. I think you're even, just call her."

"I can't, not now, maybe in a couple of days, but not now," Oliver said while Bart nodded, not surprised at the reaction he received. At that moment Clark whooshed in.

"Could you guys just get together already?" Clark asked, Bart sensing trouble zoomed out.

"What?" Oliver asked confused.

"Lois is driving me crazy, it seems to be all she talks about, getting the two of you together," Clark groaned, making Oliver smirk. When Lois's heart was set on something she wouldn't stop until she made it happen.

"Chloe and I aren't even talking."

"That's part of the problem. At least when you are talking Lois didn't have to plot ways to make you speak."

"Lois doesn't have to plot ways to make us speak Clark."

"Just think about calling her ok," Clark said and Oliver nodded knowing that was the only way he could get him to shut up.

Chloe sat waiting at the counter in a local Coffee house. Lois had called her and complained saying that they need girl talk as soon as possible and suggested they met there. She was now late, which didn't surprise Chloe in the slightest, but she usually would have texted or rung by now. A story had probably captured her and she had got distracted.

Just as she was pondering what could have happened to her cousins. Oliver Queen walked in, _Oliver 'Freaking' Queen_, Chloe thought sarcastically, just her luck. Wait, Lois isn't here and Oliver is. Her mind said piecing the parts together. Lois set us up! She suddenly felt a rush of annoyance towards her cousin.

"Chloe," Oliver said confused walking up to her and there was a long pause.

"Lois," They both said and there was another long pause.

* * *

><p><strong>Wow thank you for all the amazing reviews they inspire me to write so thank you for the on going support. Hope you enjoyed this chapter and I will try and update faster this time. Also thank you to Stop Dreaming for being a brillant Beta. <strong>

**I'm going to be realising a Chollie Oneshot within the next week called 'Damsel in Distress,' please check it out and tell me what you think. Reviews are much appreciated. **


	8. The Coffee Date

**_Previously on_**** THE FRIEND ZONE**-

_Oliver and Chloe are best friends with the potential to be something more. Chloe broke down due to forgetting the anniversary of Jimmy's death. Oliver comforts her and Chloe feels uncomfortable, she gets over it and they go to the diner with Clark and Lois. Oliver persuades Chloe to be his date to a fundraiser, Chloe ends up getting drunk. The day after she get kidnapped by Lex due to him wanting to know how to turn on and off her powers. The Justice League save her and her and Ollie fall asleep. The Justice League to continue to bet on when they will get together. Lois think something is up with the recent killings and the team investigate into it, coming up with nothing. Chloe, finds a witness and goes to interview him, he agrees but only if they go to a restaurant, Oliver sees and get jealous. The two argue and Chloe quits. Lois talks to Chloe and Oliver, but the two continue to argue. The witness dies and the two meet unexpectedly in a coffee shop. _

* * *

><p><strong>THE FRIEND ZONE<strong>

**Chapter Eight**

"Chloe please rejoin the team, I know it was my fault that you quit but please don't punish the others. We need Watchtower, we can't even tie our shoelaces without you," claimed Oliver, as he and Chloe sat down at a table, facing one and another.

"I'll rejoin the team Ollie." Oliver sighed with relief; he was worried Chloe was going to take more convincing. "I think it's best if we just-" She hesitated, "take some time apart."

"Are you breaking up with me?" The words had shot out of his mouth before he could stop himself.

"You mean metaphorically?" Chloe questioned. Oliver nodded; of course they couldn't break up they weren't together.

"Look I just think we should take time out. Some of things you said hurt me and I'm sure I hurt you too, so it might be best if we don't see each other outside of work for a couple of weeks." Chloe continued knowing that it was impossible that the two never see each other in their line of work.

"OK, I mean I respect your wishes," Oliver said not knowing what to say. Chloe was his best friend he didn't want to lose her.

"Just a break, I mean I don't want to lose you," Chloe said voicing exactly what Oliver was thinking.

"Me too," Oliver said, "I'm just gonna..." He trailed off pointing towards the door before he rotated on his heels and left.

Chloe sat down, head in her hands thinking over her recent conversation with Oliver. _What had gone so wrong? _They used to be so close yet one misunderstanding and they were, well Chloe wasn't sure what they were, but whatever it was, it sure wasn't good.

Oliver walked back to watchtower; Chloe and their conversation were at the front of his mind. She needed time and he would give her that. He needed to speak to someone, someone who wasn't Chloe and would provide some sort of distraction.

"Hello," Oliver called to the seemingly empty Watchtower to see if anyone was there.

"Hey Oliver," Clark hesitated, "How did it go?" Knowing Lois's plan to bring them together.

"She said she needed time, but hey at least she agreed to rejoin the team," Oliver said shrugging his shoulders to try and prove his indifference. Clark wasn't fooled.

"I'm sorry Oliver I know who you feel about her."

"Everyone keeps saying that. They know how'll I feel? I don't how I feel, so how does everyone else?" Oliver said a hint of anger in his voice.

"Oliver-" Clark started but Oliver wasn't finished.

"I mean I care for her and she's beautiful, intelligent. I love her snarky nature, she makes me laugh and Clark do you think I might... you know?" Oliver said.

"You know..." Clark said trailing off, knowing what Oliver meant but wanting to hear him admit it to himself.

"Love her..."

"I know you love her," Clark said smiling at Oliver, happy that his friend admitted it, now if only Chloe would come to the same conclusion.

"Any leads on the human bowling ball?" Oliver said, swiftly changing the subject. Now that he knew Chloe had spoken to the witness at the bar and did not in fact have a boyfriend.

"No not yet I'm hoping to catch him in the act. Victor is also checking to see whether the victims have a link between them."

"I'm gonna hold a meeting to plan the latest 33.1 mission would you mind contacting Chloe and telling her. It'll be in about two weeks," Oliver said, he always gave the team time to get prepared.

"Of course, I got to go," Clark whooshed off before Oliver got to say goodbye. Oliver looked at the time and headed off to Queen Industries. He needed to get some actual work done.

**Two Weeks Later**

Chloe and Oliver had no direct contact for the last two weeks. When Oliver was on patrol Lois would generally take over and be By-line. The few words that Chloe had spoke as Watchtower few had been with Oliver. This was first time they were going to have to see each other face to face after Lois's not so subtle set up.

"Hey, is everyone here?" Oliver said glancing around the table.

Since Justice League had massively expanded, they had split into groups so they could cover the most area. The groups all had the same database and could access it at any point. They alerted each other when anything major was happening and ultimately reported to Clark, Oliver and Chloe.

This meant they occasionally had meetings just the three of them to go through data and overview the other teams reports. Oliver was not looking forward to the next time that happened.

Oliver glanced around the table looking at the expectant faces of Bart, Victor, AC, Clark and Lois. Chloe was missing which Lois pointed out. "Chloe's not here yet, she said she was running late."

About ten minutes later, she rushed in and apologized. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late."

"Let's get started then," Oliver said. "Victor where do we want to hit next?"

"There's a lab in outskirts of San Francisco, which isn't as well guarded. I think it's best if we hit there next," Victor said.

"Are we sure it's not a trap?" Chloe asked.

"I don't think so. They just had a massive earthquake so I'm sure they're on a leave of absence."

"Have you got the blueprints?" Oliver asked.

"Yep I've got them," Chloe said.

"We've planned a route. Now the guards usually run on a rotation of six minutes, but Lex occasionally changes the schedule," Lois said.

"How many do we think are in the lab?" Oliver asked.

"About twelve," Victor answered.

"Right so Bart and I will take six each, Victor will Jack in if we need any techno help and AC will take down any guards that get in our way. Lois and Chloe will watch from Watchtower," Clark said while everyone else nodded.

"Right so I think we've got it. Anyone got any questions? It should just be a routine mission, meeting over" Oliver said.

"Anyone want to grab a bite?" Bart asked the group, they all nodded. It was only after, that it dawned on Oliver that Chloe had asked for space, if they both went then he wouldn't exactly be giving her space.

"Ummm I've got to-" Chloe started but Oliver cut her off, she was most likely making an excuse as to why she couldn't go, probably because of him.

"Look I got some work to do, so I won't be able to come, sorry guys," Oliver said, putting his hands in the air in mock surrender. Chloe nodded in the sign of thanks. Was this how their relationship was going to be? They couldn't go out with the team together, couldn't talk, and could only be civil in team meetings.

The girl he loved could only just about mange to be civil towards him, and wouldn't go out with him in public. _Great_ he thought sarcastically _well things could only get better._

Chloe walked down the street to a local Italian with the team. She was debating whether to go back and ask him to come with them, he obviously wasn't there because of her and the whole group knew that.

The rest of team were walking in front with her and Lois and walking behind. "Do you think I should ask him to come with us?" Chloe said.

"Honestly, yes, what harm could it do?" Lois said. She had tried the direct approach and it hadn't worked. Now she still was going to subtly push them in the direction of each other, especially when Clark had told her about Oliver's revelation for his love for Chloe. Chloe nodded.

"Guys I'm just gonna..." Chloe trailed off and group understood what she meant.

"Hey Oliver," Chloe called as she walked into Watchtower.

"Chloe?" Oliver questioned.

"Look I erm... I know you said you have work, but you know, I would really like you to be there if you could erm... possibly do the work later." Oliver understood what Chloe was saying and nodded knowing that she was making an effort. One of things he loved about Chloe was her kindness towards others.

"Thanks," Oliver said grabbing his coat as the two headed out of Watchtower. They walked in silence though and Oliver couldn't help but smile. He was at least was making some progress with Chloe.

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><p><strong>Thank you for all the review and thanks to those who reviewed Damsel in Distress as well, hope you enjoyed this chapter and always leave a review and tell me what you think! :) <strong>


	9. Data Loss

**_Previously on_**** THE FRIEND ZONE**-

_Oliver and Chloe are best friends with the potential to be something more. Chloe broke down due to forgetting the anniversary of Jimmy's death. Oliver comforts her and Chloe feels uncomfortable, she gets over it and they go to the diner with Clark and Lois. Oliver persuades Chloe to be his date to a fundraiser, Chloe ends up getting drunk. The day after she get kidnapped by Lex due to him wanting to know how to turn on and off her powers. The Justice League save her and her and Ollie fall asleep. The Justice League continue to bet on when they will get together. Lois think something is up with the recent killings and the team investigate into it, coming up with nothing. Chloe, finds a witness and goes to interview him, he agrees but only if they go to a restaurant, Oliver sees and get jealous. The two argue and Chloe quits. Lois talks to Chloe and Oliver, but the two continue to argue. The witness dies and the two meet unexpectedly in a coffee shop. Chloe rejoin the team but Chloe and Oliver are still at odds. Oliver realises he loves Chloe and is determined to do something about it. _

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><p><strong>THE FRIEND ZONE<strong>

**Chapter Nine **

Chloe had tolerated Oliver over the past couple of weeks but had made no effort to spend any time with him; much to his annoyance. The team had been spending a lot of time together so at least Oliver got to see her if not talk to her. They were attempting to find any leads on the Human Bowling Ball. The group sat with each other for hours going through papers, scanning computers and chatting while trying to find a lead.

"I've got it," Victor exclaimed. "It's Lex."

"Lex?" Oliver questioned.

"Lex," Victor confirmed.

"Lex?" Clark asked.

"Lex."

"Can everyone stop saying Lex! Victor are you sure?" Chloe asked.

"They're all related to him somehow, they either worked for him or went to school with him. They're all linked. I didn't realize it until now because someone has recently changed the records, probably Lex's men. When I noticed that they didn't fit and delved deeper, I found it was a cover," Victor said.

"Wow, well done," Chloe complemented, "I mean I always thought it could have been Lex but there was no evidence. I am a bit surprised though; it's not really his style is it?"

"Using a meteor infected person to do his dirty work, maybe they're being forced to do it." AC offered while the others nodded, surprised that Lex would actually work with a meteor infected person.

"Sorry to leave at such a crucial point but Lois and I have a date," Clark said gesturing to the door.

"It's probably time to call it a night anyway, we'll pick it up tomorrow," Oliver said as the others nodded. Over the next ten minutes everyone left except Chloe and Oliver.

"Hey, Chloe, what you working on?"

"Updating the database," Chloe answered as the computer began to flicker before it turned off.

"What happened?" Oliver asked confused that an extremely expensive computer had jus switched off for no apparent reason.

"It's gone it's all gone," Chloe murmured. "The database, I spent hours and..." Chloe trailed off and buried her face into her hands and started to cry.

"No Chloe, please don't cry," Oliver said.

"I just can't do it all, it's all too much and..." She said as Oliver enveloped her in a hug. "I'm sorry; it's not about the database, everything has just been... I just feel this emptiness and everything is so stressful at the moment..." Chloe trailed off.

"Chloe, its ok things will get better," Oliver said unsure what to say. Ten minutes ago they had barely been talking to one another.

"I really missed you," Chloe said, her voice being muffled into by Oliver's chest.

"I missed you too Sidekick," Oliver said smiling at her.

"This is stupid," Chloe said at the look on Oliver's face. She added, "I mean the arguing…"

"Agreed, I'm sorry."

"Me too, I..." Chloe trailed off yet again and struggled to think of the right words, "want to be close to you as before. I'm sorry I said I needed time, and I was wrong."

"Chloe it was my fault. I shouldn't have assumed that he was your boyfriend, I guess I was just jealous." He sighed.

"Jealous?" She asked. Sensing that Chloe wasn't ready for to hear the truth yet he back-tracked.

"I mean that, if you had a boyfriend we wouldn't as be as close anymore. Turns out that I managed to cause that all on my own," Oliver admitted.

"Oliver its okay, I'm happy we're friends again," Chloe said beaming. Oliver moved his hand to brush away the tears on her face.

"Me too, and seeing as we're such good friends will you be my date this Saturday? And before you say no, it's to open a hospital. It's an hour thing and we can go and grab some dinner afterwards," Oliver said, practically pouting.

"Ok, Ok, I'll go just don't let me get drunk," Chloe reluctantly agreed.

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><p>Chloe got ready for the hospital benefit thinking about Oliver. She had really missed him. Hospital benefits weren't really her thing, but she was glad to see Oliver outside the realm of Watchtower.<p>

"Chloe, open up," Oliver called.

"Coming," Chloe shouted, attempting to run to the door in heels.

"Hey, Ollie," Chloe greeted.

"Wow you look beautiful," Oliver said grinning at her blushing.

"Thank you, I'll just grab my purse," Chloe said returning a minute later with it. The car ride was reasonably quite, a couple of comments were made but there was no constant flow of conversation. Oliver ushered her into the hospital, where groups were mingling. They made small talk and Chloe felt out of place but she wasn't going to let anything bring her down.

The two moved around, before an employee made a speech and Oliver cut the ribbon making a short speech about how he was happy to donate the money. He came back afterwards as the two continued to talk, Chloe leaning into his arms that were around her shoulders.

Wait, Chloe thought, since when had she started to lean in to Oliver's touch. She had just missed him that was the reason she attempted to convince herself with. She couldn't possibly have feelings for him could she? No that wasn't possible, Oliver was a friend, nothing more. There were a million reasons why they shouldn't be together. It just wasn't in the cards, Oliver was supposed to... Actually Chloe wasn't sure who Oliver was supposed to end up with, but she was certain it wasn't her. Did she have feelings for Oliver, well he was kind, intelligent and she would be blind if she didn't see how good looking he was and... She stopped suddenly is in realization. She had feelings for Oliver Queen.

How had she possibly come to that conclusion in the space of a minute? They had been friends for years and she had been completely blind? Was she just setting herself up for more heartbreak? Oliver couldn't possibly like her. It just couldn't be possible. She really needed to talk to someone about it.

The rest of evening went quickly, the two had dinner and he took her home. It was all a bit of a blur to Chloe really. As soon as she got home, she text Lois 'Chocolate Cake,' it was their message for: 'Boy emergency, get your ass over as I need someone to talk to.' Admittedly Lois used the phase far more frequently than Chloe but she was glad that Lois was there for her. 'Ok x' she text back. Chloe sat on the couch in anticipation.

"Lois I'm in love with Ollie," Chloe said as soon as Lois walked briskly in.

"I know," Lois said simply, and if Chloe hadn't been completely frantic it would have made her laugh.

"I can't be in love with Ollie," she said shaking her head in denial.

"But you are," Lois insisted as she sat on the couch as Chloe paced up and down on in front of it.

"How can you know this, when I didn't until a couple of hours ago?"

"Well my dear cousin there a couple of things you need to know about our family; being blind is a family trait. I mean look how long, it took me and Clark to get together, although I still blame part of that on Smallville," She said.

Chloe laughed, Lois always knew how to make light of a situation, "If it helps the Sullivan-Lane family also have a thing for heroes," Lois said laughing.

"He's the Green-Frickin'-Arrow," Chloe said as if it had only just hit her that not only was she in love with a billionaire, but also the Green Arrow. Lois laughed at the look on her cousin's face.

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><p><strong>So this story is going to be wrapping up within the next few chapters, but I hope to post a new Chloe Oliver story soon and I can just say thank you for all the wonderful reviews they mean alot, please one this chapter, anyway hope you enjoyed it :) **


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